Reduce waist circumference, stay away from metabolic syndrome, control the three highs, and the new crown vaccine will be more effective

Vaccination coverage is important. For people with high-risk chronic diseases, only vaccination can avoid the risk of severe illness! In particular, patients with the "three highs", such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease, need to control the three highs, and patients with metabolic syndrome who are entering the stage of the three high chronic diseases also need to control their waist circumference.

Visceral fat is the key to infection. Poor control may lead to severe illness

Cai Kesong, chairman of the Millennium Love Foundation and professor emeritus of the National Taiwan University School of Medicine, pointed out that according to the search results of the International Medical Journal Literature Index Abstract Database PubMed from 2020 to 2021 since the global outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic, there are more than 6,000 studies on the correlation between the five indicators of metabolic syndrome in the early stages of the three high chronic diseases - excessive waist circumference, visceral fat, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, fasting triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and new coronavirus pneumonia, among which blood sugar and obesity index are most highly correlated with the severity of new coronavirus pneumonia.

According to foreign statistics, obese people not only have a high risk of contracting COVID-19, but their chances of severe illness and poor prognosis are also greatly increased. This is also reflected in countries with a large number of obese people, where the severity and mortality rates of the epidemic are higher than in other countries, indicating that obesity is indeed the key to the spread of the epidemic. Compared with the BMI body mass index (calculated by the ratio of weight in kg/height in m^2), the waist circumference of visceral fat accumulation is more correlated with the severity of COVID-19. People with excessive waist circumference have significantly higher damage to their lung tissue than those with normal waist circumference, indicating that people with excessive visceral fat accumulation have a worse prognosis for COVID-19.

Excessive visceral fat may reduce the effectiveness of vaccines

Dr. Du Side, executive director of the Diabetes Society, said that because the metabolic syndrome group is in a state of chronic inflammation for a long time, the activity of macrophages is reduced and the response of B cells and T cells is impaired. These factors will lead to poor response after vaccination. Foreign studies have also shown that people with larger waist circumferences have lower antibody concentrations after vaccination. This is because the vaccine must produce a series of responses through immune cells to work, but the pro-inflammatory factors produced by visceral and subcutaneous fat tissue can cause immune response disorders or reduce immune cell responses, resulting in vaccination results that are not as expected. Therefore, Dr. Du Side reminds people with large waist circumference and a record of bad three highs, that is, patients or candidates of metabolic syndrome, to reduce waist circumference and eliminate visceral fat before and after vaccination in order to protect themselves during the epidemic.

Millennium Love Health Foundation joins hands with the National Health Administration to promote "New Life for Epidemic Prevention, Slim Waist and Avoid Severe Illness", calling on county and city leaders to respond

Professor Cai Kesong said that up to half of the population over the age of 45 in Taiwan have problems with excessive waist circumference, overweight and obesity (BMI between 24-27 kg/m² is overweight, and BMI ≥ 27kg/m² is obese). He suggested that after the epidemic is lifted, people with metabolic syndrome and obesity can resist inflammation through moderate aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, and jogging, and follow the "three lows and one high" principle in their diet - control the three high indexes through a low-oil, low-sugar, low-salt, and high-fiber diet; at the same time, measure waist circumference regularly to stay away from metabolic syndrome.

The Millennium Love Health Foundation once again joined hands with the National Health Administration on this year's "89 Waist Measurement Day" to call for the importance of maintaining a healthy waistline during the epidemic. It also specially invited "Chai Quotations" to jump onto the "89 Waist Measurement Day" waist circumference measuring tape with the theme of "New Life for Epidemic Prevention, Slim Waist and Stay Away from Serious Illness", and paired it with stickers with plum blossoms, a symbol of Taiwan, and protected animals, hoping to use positive energy to encourage everyone to continue to live a downgraded life for epidemic prevention. The Foundation invites everyone to go to 7-ELEVEN stores and designated channels to get a limited edition measuring tape sticker pack and measure whether their waist circumference exceeds the healthy standard: adult males should be less than 90 cm, and females should be less than 80 cm. In addition, by controlling the three highs, only then can one truly stay away from the threat of severe COVID-19.

In addition, this year the Foundation has also invited county and city heads to participate in the "89 Measure Your Waist Day". Starting from the end of July, they have been sharing on their official Facebook page their healthy dishes made with local ingredients, as well as the office or home exercises they have done during the epidemic prevention period. They have taken the lead in encouraging county residents to maintain a healthy waistline through healthy diet and exercise, and enhance their protection against epidemics.